Training Crucial for Young Firefighters

Meridian, Miss Training. It's an essential part of being a firefighter according to Captain Daniel Mabry. He says lately they've been doing training about once a month to make sure that the younger firefighters are ready when the calls go out. Mabry says that being a firefighter means that you're on call for 24 hours, and you never know what you'll get called to do. That's why it's important to stay sharp in all your skill sets.

Mabry says "We work 24 hours a day, and while we're there we're on call 24 hours a day. When the tones go out, we got to go. You don't know what you're going to go to, could be a vehicle fire, structure fire, wrecks, we go to all of it so you have to be sharp on everything. You just never know what you're going to go to when the tone calls. When the tone comes out someone needs you."

With a lot of youth within the fire department, exercises like this in a controlled environment are crucial. It allows the younger firefighters the opportunity to see how some of the older guys do things.

Mabry went on to say "Most of our department is younger guys. We've had some of the older guys retire or leave. Like I said we got a lot of younger people that haven’t gotten that much fire experience doing this and a controlled environment is good, good for the older guys to work with the younger guys and the younger guys with the older guys.”

During this particular exercise, they practice fighting fires on the second floor of a building, as well as fighting fires in a basement setting.

Updated: 03/03/2015
- The Choctaw Health Center held its official ribbon cutting today on the Choctaw Reservation after 18 months of construction, the facility will become fully operational on March 9, 2015.

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